KOLKATA: The long delayed East-West Metro has run into a fresh land hurdle.
The Calcutta high court has ruled that land acquisition at Bowbazar for the proposedCentral station on the Salt Lake-Howrah Maidan route is invalid because the landlosers weren't compensated within the stipulated timeframe of two years. Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya has also asked the state transport department, which took possession of the land on January 24 this year, to return it within two weeks.
The order spells fresh trouble for the Metro corridor that has been dogged by land acquisition problems and is running nearly two years behind schedule. A route diversion plan via Subodh Mullick Square and S N Banerjee road to bypass the land hurdle at Central has been turned down by the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the project's funding agency, due to cost escalation. The JBIC, which is lending Rs 2,253 crore for the Rs 4,874-crore project, wrote to the state government in August saying it would pull out if the realignment was made. The new route, with an additional 1.7km, now seems inevitable. The first phase of the project, a 9-km stretch from IT township of Salt Lake to Sealdah, is to be operational by March 2015.
The order was passed last Thursday on a plea by the Central Calcutta Citizens Welfare Association challenging the acquisition of premises 38, 39/2, 40(P), 41(P), 42, 42/3, 43, 43/1 and 43/2 B B Ganguly Street and 34(P) and 36(P) Mohim Chandra Das Sarani (Robert Street).
Justice Bhattacharya held the land acquisition process had lapsed "due to the nonpublication of compensation award within the statutory period as provided in Section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894".
The East-West Metro is to cross the Dumdum-Kabi Subhash Metro line at Central. Declaration for land acquisition under Section 6 of the Act was published in the Kolkata Gazette on August 27, 2009. The Collector published that the compensation of Rs 1,90,000 had been paid on November 15, 2011. The petitioners moved the high court since the compensation wasn't paid within two years.
The Calcutta high court has ruled that land acquisition at Bowbazar for the proposedCentral station on the Salt Lake-Howrah Maidan route is invalid because the landlosers weren't compensated within the stipulated timeframe of two years. Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya has also asked the state transport department, which took possession of the land on January 24 this year, to return it within two weeks.
The order spells fresh trouble for the Metro corridor that has been dogged by land acquisition problems and is running nearly two years behind schedule. A route diversion plan via Subodh Mullick Square and S N Banerjee road to bypass the land hurdle at Central has been turned down by the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the project's funding agency, due to cost escalation. The JBIC, which is lending Rs 2,253 crore for the Rs 4,874-crore project, wrote to the state government in August saying it would pull out if the realignment was made. The new route, with an additional 1.7km, now seems inevitable. The first phase of the project, a 9-km stretch from IT township of Salt Lake to Sealdah, is to be operational by March 2015.
The order was passed last Thursday on a plea by the Central Calcutta Citizens Welfare Association challenging the acquisition of premises 38, 39/2, 40(P), 41(P), 42, 42/3, 43, 43/1 and 43/2 B B Ganguly Street and 34(P) and 36(P) Mohim Chandra Das Sarani (Robert Street).
Justice Bhattacharya held the land acquisition process had lapsed "due to the nonpublication of compensation award within the statutory period as provided in Section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894".
The East-West Metro is to cross the Dumdum-Kabi Subhash Metro line at Central. Declaration for land acquisition under Section 6 of the Act was published in the Kolkata Gazette on August 27, 2009. The Collector published that the compensation of Rs 1,90,000 had been paid on November 15, 2011. The petitioners moved the high court since the compensation wasn't paid within two years.
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